Canadian women drop pre-World Cup game to United States

The Canadian women’s basketball team lost 84-68 to the United States on Saturday in an exhibition game ahead of the FIBA World Cup.

The reigning Olympic champion Americans outscored Canada 17-7 in the second quarter to roll to their second win over the Canadians in a week. The U.S. won 74-68 last weekend in Bridgeport, Conn.

Shay Colley of Brampton, Ont., led Canada with a game-high 21 points and eight rebounds.

“The game got emotional early,” said Canada coach Lisa Thomaidis. ”It was a battle from start to finish. I was super proud of our team and our players and how they responded. I thought they played with a ton of toughness.

“Shay Colley had an outstanding night, but all 11 of them played with a lot of heart. I think when you play against the U.S., it’s an emotional game. There’s a lot of history there between a lot of the players. I thought we played a tough game and that is really going to help us moving forward for the World Cup.”

Canada shot just 30% from the field. Colley was the exception to the shooting woes, connecting on eight of her 16 attempts.

“Coming in, we knew it was going to be very physical,” said Colley, a redshirt junior at Michigan State. “That’s how America plays. It’s going to be very fast and up tempo. Coming in, our game plan was to worry about us, focus on us, execute our plays and just stick together no matter if they go on runs or not.”

A’ja Wilson led the Americans with 14 points.

Canada faces France and Senegal in exhibition games Sunday and Monday, respectively.

The Canadians open the World Cup on Sept. 22 against Greece in Tenerife, Spain.